The Raw Rewind

The last week in the WWE expanded universe: Raw / NXT / Evolve / Impact / SmackDown / Lucha Libre AAA

Extra credit reading material: The NXT 2.0 Rewind / The WWE Rewind: WrestleMania 2

Then, Now, Forever, Together.

THIS is the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California. Once the San Diego International Sports Arena, this building has been running events since 1966 and has hosted Vengeance 2001, Taboo Tuesday 2005, One Night Stand, last year’s Survivor Series and a sea of Raw and SmackDown episodes. Tonight, it is the home of Monday Night Raw, live on Netflix and presented by Wendy’s.

After Saturday night’s Money in the Bank, some would say the landscape has changed in WWE. And by “some,” I mean Triple H in his post-show interview. Let’s see how the landscaping is changing on Raw. There is a big fight feel in the air tonight as we have a big six-man match with 946 against The Usos and Solo Sikoa on deck, even to the doubt of General Manager Adam Pearce. Why would he let the match happen on his show if he is hesitant, you ask? Don’t ask questions. We’re on the road to Survivor Series and maybe Crown Jewel.

It’s Monday night again, which means it is time for Monday Night Raw on Netflix (or Ring of Honor on YouTube for whatever reason that is happening tonight). What crime will 946 commit tonight? What last-minute advancement can we do towards Money in the Bank? Only one way to find out.

It has been a rough few weeks in the wrestling fandom. Last night, we learned of the passing of Benjamin Satterley, who competed as Pac in AEW and Neville in WWE. Loss is always sad, but especially when it is sudden and unexpected. If you’d like, you can join us in paying tribute to Ben here. Please consider being kind to each other and tell people how much you love and appreciate them because you never what the next day brings.

I’d also like to send some love to the family and friends of Rick Achberger, the superfan you know as Sign Guy who has spent many years in the crowd with his red hat, blue shirt, and signs. He passed this weekend after battling some health issues.

Let’s try to enjoy a little Monday Night Raw. It looks like an episode that is heavy on “wrestler addresses a situation” and one of our hyped matches is Dragon Lee vs Big Cass, so we’ll see what we have to work with here. Even the Money in the Bank qualifiers are skipping Raw, heading to SmackDown instead this week.

Here we are, Monday night! It is the 21st night of September and that means Monday Night Raw is here again. Just as a programming note, I’ve decided to extend the “Rewind” branding to everything because… branding. Some dude already stole “Rant.” I don’t know if there are any sites on the internet with his work.

The week in WWE: Raw / NXT / Evolve / Main Event / SmackDown / Lucha Libre AAA

Then, Now, Forever, Together.

THIS is San Antonio, Texas. Did you know there is no basement at the Alamo? The Frost Bank Center is our home tonight for Monday Night Raw live on Netflix and presented by DoorDash. Previous big things in this building include the 2007 Royal Rumble, the 2018 Money in the Bank, an episode of Collision, and Black Sabbath’s final show in the United States.

Arrivals! Solo Sikoa (with 946 slowly riding by behind him), Bayley, and Iyo Sky have all come to their jobs tonight. Here’s a look at last night’s epic Roman Reigns vs Penta match from last week’s Raw in Mexico City. We also get some exclusive post-show footage of L.A. Knight attacking Roman Reigns and Roman yelling that Knight gets his match at Money in the Bank.

L.A. Knight also arrives, coming across Penta. Penta gets the opening spot in the arena tonight, getting the big introduction from the great Alicia Taylor and a huge reception from the San Antonio crowd. Penta calls last week one of the biggest nights of his life. “Roman Reigns, you were the better man that night and I respect you but this is not over.” He wants another opportunity and he wants the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. We’re interrupted by Dominik Mysterio (with Dude Wipes tee) and JD McDonagh, both with mics and both to a very unhappy crowd. They don’t care about Penta’s hopes and dreams and the people want to hear from someone who stood tall in Mexico. JD says that Penta had his shot and lost and should head to the back of the line because Dom is winning MITB and becoming World Champ. Dom: “And you need to put some respect on my name because you’re just a luchador and I’m the King of the Luchadores.” Penta says the only king of luchadors is Dom’s father which leads to the beatdown. They toss Penta outside and clear the poor announce table. JD tries for a power bomb, Penta kicks his way out and tosses both men in the ring, flying onto both of them with a crossbody before Dom and JD scurry away.

Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso and Jacob Fatu are talking backstage again, the Usos saying tonight is the night and Fatu saying it is the night to lay low again. I feel like I’ve seen this episode. Jacob says they shouldn’t make the first move as a white flag comes into the screen. Solo Sikoa is holding this flag and says 946 isn’t stopping until they’re all finished so they need to work together as a team. The Usos say he would have to acknowledge Roman as the Tribal Chief and the Usos as his captains to re-enter the Bloodline. “No, that ain’t gonna happen. Back to the drawing boards then.” As Solo leaves, Fatu scolds the Usos and tell them they just made a big mistake.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Iyo Sky vs Roxanne Perez vs AAA Reina de Reinas Champion La Catalina

Iyo has two MITB matches in her past, winning 2023 and losing 2024. Rox was in the 2025 match, losing to Naomi. And then there is La Catalina, making her first appearance on Raw since 2019. Back then, she was Carolina and teamed with Sin Cara in a loss to Andrade and Zelina Vega. That episode also featured Adam Cole defending his NXT Championship against Seth Rollins. Brock Lesnar put commentator Dio Maddin through the announce table on that episode as well. Times were different. Iyo and Catalina work together to get Roxanne out of the ring and then shake, trading moves before Catalina scoops Iyo on her back and spins her. Rox comes in and all three trade blows as a graphic on the screen tells us we can get up to 40% off on the Trick Williams chicken wings shirt that is all the rage on social media (key word: rage). The fans chant for Iyo as Iyo moonsaults onto Rox on the outside and Catalina crossbodies onto her to send us to that wacky DiGorgino commercial.

We return to Rox working over Iyo in the ring and the fans again chanting for Iyo. Iyo nails Catalina with the uppercut and Rox tosses Iyo out. Rox takes the chance to hit the double rope springboard and Iyo rolls in with a stomp for a two. Iyo heads up for an Over the Moonsault and Rox shoves her into the ringpost. With Rox downed, Catalina tries for a top rope cutter. Rox springs up to shove down Catalina and rana Iyo but Catalina nails Rox with a running knee to put all three women down. All three work back to their feet and trade blows again. Catalina rolls Rox into the Gory Special for a two. Sky appears for a missile dropkick and with both women down in the corner nails them both with the Meteora. She sets them both up for the Over the Moonsault and Rox rolls out of the way, catching Iyo with Pop Rox for the pin. Rox advances.

Roxanne Perez pins Iyo Sky to advance to Money in the Bank. This was an enjoyable match between three women that have good chemistry though took a bit to win over the crowd. Catalina looked good here, Iyo was Iyo and Rox continues her rise. I’d recommend checking this one out.

L.A. Knight comes across Solo Sikoa backstage and questions why Solo is mingling with the Bloodline again. Solo says it isn’t what it looks like. “Don’t you dare cash in on me!” “Why would I do that, you’re my boy.”

After a round of commercials, L.A. Knight is here in the arena to talk to us. He gives credit to Roman and Penta for their match last week but now it is his turn. Knight tells us it has been three years since he’s gone one-on-one with Roman. He’s noticed how the Bloodline hasn’t been around for Roman’s big matches lately and he wonders if Roman will be man enough to face him one-on-one as well. Knight says he’s never needed help and he’ll do MITB by himself too. This was long and meandering and could’ve used about two minutes clipped out of it.

Byron Saxton catches up with Je’Von Evans backstage. Byron tells him that he is the youngest superstar to compete in a MITB ladder match and Je’Von says he is going to become the youngest to win it as well. Logan Paul, fresh off taking his bad hair to the White House, walks up with the rest of The Vision. Bron Breakker congratulates Je’Von and says MITB is his and is no longer Je’Von’s concern. Je’Von notices they both have their gear on and maybe they should have a match right now. He asks Bron what the five fingers said to the face and Bron has a very controlled reaction to it, knowing Je’Von was trying to incite him.

WWE Radio on SiriumXM is moving to channel 93! Write that down. I think that is kind of a big deal because some older cars can only get the first 100 channels.

Je’Von Evans vs WWE World Tag Team Champion Bron Breakker (with WWE World Tag Team Champion Austin Theory, Maxxine Dupri, Logan Paul and Bronson Reed)

Bron grabs Je’Von and tackles him right to the outside. Joe Tess notes that Bron is using self-control by only attacking when the bell rings. Evans runs in and flies back outside onto Bron before shoving him into the apron. In-ring, Je’Von gives Bron a big right hand and Bron rolls back to the outside, Je’Von following. Je’Von slams Bron’s head into the announce desk and Bron retreats into the sea of Vision members before charging at Je’Von, Je’Von dodging and Bron tumbling into the timekeeper’s area. Je’Von does his run around the ring and flies into Bron and the chair of Alicia Taylor who was very smart and moved when things came into her area. We split-screen so Dom can get his chicken tendies from DoorDash and we can be told about the prospects of joining the U.S. Navy.

When the commercials fade away, Bron is working over Je’Von with a sleeper on the mat. Bron hits a Frankensteiner and then runs into a big kick. Theory sneaks in a right hand and Bron spins Je’Von into a slam, only able to get a two. Bron signals for the spear and takes far too long to go for it, Evans dodging and Bron slamming into the ring post. Evans slugs Theory off the apron and flies onto Bron before running back in and launching onto Bron. Evans rolls Bron in and nails the Red Dot. He tries for the Cutter, Theory knocks him down and we have the DQ.

Je’Von Evans defeats Bron Breakker by disqualification. This was a much more even match than I expected, both showing Je’Von as a more serious competitor and Bron again as someone who doesn’t always think.

The gang beat down is on until the lights go off and come back to green, Oba Femi running to the ring. He smashes the champs into the corners before Bronson splashes him, Oba shaking it off and booting him to the mat. Logan tries to sneak a chair in and Oba smacks it across the champs before uppercutting Bronson and smashing the chair across his back. Oba gives Je’Von a nod and launches him outside and onto the men of The Vision. Oba makes everything better.

Celebrities! They love Raw! Here’s WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry. He’s the only person we could find this week. Sorry, no TKO boxers are in the area.

946 are in the car and say they aren’t giving warning shots this week. Perhaps they’re listening to WWE Radio on SiriumXM!

Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett greet us from ringside and give us a look at Joe Hendry singing the JD Funko Pop song with fans in the arena earlier in the evening.

The Judgment Day (WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Raquel Rodriguez, JD McDonagh, Liv Morgan, Dominik Mysterio and Roxanne Perez) join us in the arena because we needed a second Judgment Day talk tonight. JD tells us that the Funko head things don’t bother him but his mother in Ireland is stressed about it so he needs it to end tonight. “My dad is not a Funko Pop and I have a very normal sized head!” Raquel tells him that “you have the best head” and she is embarrassed by the behavior of the haters in the crowd. Liv says they’re celebrating their blessings and calls out Stephanie Vaquer.

We get Becky Lynch instead who is in the crowd in Jey Uso’s usual spot. She calls out JD by the name Jordan Devlin McDonagh (for more information, Google “Jordan Devlin under fire”) and says he should be ashamed for being out in gang wear. He says that everybody is a fan of Referee Rebecca and the first shot at the title should be hers. This brings out WWE Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer who is tired of the talk and offers Liv a rematch. Becky wants to interject and Vaquer says she’ll also give Becky a match. “A real champion, Liv, is not afraid to defend a title.” She’ll talk to Adam Pearce and get things set up. The women’s stuff was good but man, the Judgment Day has passed its expiration date.

Lyra Valkyria tells us via vignette that being Bayley’s partner took a year off her career and tonight will be Bayley’s last match.

John Cena’s one-of-one WrestleMania patch card sold for $329,400, the most expensive WWE trading card of all time.

Bayley vs Lyra Valkyria

For the first time since June, Bayley is competing on Raw. Bayley has again had a big week doing some amazing stuff with her Lodestone classes. Bayley attacks as Lyra tries to enter and dives onto her, pounding away and tossing her into the barricade. Back in the ring, Bayley nails Lyra with a running knee to the face and works over her in the corner. Lyra pulls Bayley to the mat and tries for a spin kick, Bayley catching her and suplexing her. Lyra slowly monkey flips Bayley and hits a high leg drop from the top with a two count.

We come back from a break to Lyra missing a moonsault. Lyra grabs Bayley up for a modified gutwrench powerbomb which wasn’t her plan but where we ended up. Bayley tries for Rose Plantn and Lyra boots her out, so Bayley tosses Lyra over the table. Bayley strips the table and pulls Lyra onto it, trying for a piledriver. Lyra escapes and scurries into the ring. Bayley stomps Lyra down and the referee pulls her off. Bayley tries again and Lyra slips through her legs, rolling her up for a three.

Lyra Valkyria pins Bayley. This was overly long, disjointed and and I’m not sure why Bayley is losing her return match. I’d bet we’re headed to a stipulation match in a few weeks. None of this really worked for me, but vengeful Bayley coming back wanting a regular match felt a bit off to begin with.

WWE Intercontinental Champion Chad Gable tells Dragon Lee they can run it back any time and Dragon says he’s focused on MITB tonight. Ethan Page interrupts and wonders if he will get a match if he wears a mask. Page says he’ll be waiting for Gable when Chad returns to reality.

Raw General Manager Adam Pearce greets us from the stage holding a contract, welcoming out official Raw superstar Lola Vice. She tells us how her mom introduced her to glamour and dance while her father introduced her to martial arts. The voice of Roxanne Perez interrupts (Lola: “Of course”) and says she could teach Lola a thing or two. She tells Lola that Lola is several levels below her and Lola breaks out the Spanish, shoving her and leading to Adam trying to separate them.

WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman watches backstage, eyeballing Lola before Bron Breakker walks up. That’s good, it would be awkward if Paul was just standing there staring at Lola. Paul says that Oba is still breathing which is bad for the Vision. Bron: “Well Paul, I’m still breathing which means that’s bad, bad, bad for everyone.” Paul questions the “everyone” and Bron stares, echoing that he meant “everyone.”

The WWE Fact of the Night, brought to you by DiGiorno: Men’s Money in the Bank winners have a 76.92% cash-in success rate (20 out of 26).

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Solo Sikoa vs Dominik Mysterio vs Dragon Lee

We cut backstage to 946 attacking a bruised Solo and tossing him into the back of the SUV and speeding off as the Usos and Fatu are unable to catch a speeding car on foot. Fatu yells that he told them this would happen. L.A. Knight walks up and is mad as well.

Danhausen – now in WWE 2K26!

Dom is not only wearing his Dude Wipes tee but has a second different Dude Wipes tee hanging out of his tights. Adam Pearce pops out to announce that Solo is not in the match but he has found a third man and introduces Penta. Penta was in the 2025 MITB match and lost while Dom and Dragon have not been in a MITB ladder match.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Dominik Mysterio vs Dragon Lee vs Penta

After they fight to a break, we return to Dom working over Lee in the corner and Penta down on the outside. Penta runs in to kick Dom on the second rope and try for a suplex which Lee blocks, headbutting him down. Dom takes his turn at attacking Lee in the corner, Lee dropping him and stomping with the double stomp before Penta tosses Lee into the corner. The men all take each other down and Raw coverage continues thanks to DiGiorno. Thanks, frozen pizza! Dom runs right into a big boot from Lee but then dumps him to the outside. Dom leaps onto Lee on the outside and rolls him back in. Lee leaps onto Penta outside and comes in to make another dive, cut off by Dom with the 619. Lee ducks a frog splash before Dom hits a driver for a two. Penta runs in for a Penta Driver for a 2.9 on Dom as Joe Tess reminds us that he did this to Roman a mere seven nights ago.

The crowd chant that the match is awesome as Lee lands a tornado DDT on Penta and connects with Operation Dragon, Dom breaking the pin. Dom lands two Amigos and Lee counters the third, spinning Dom into a pin that Penta breaks up. Lee heads up top again and Dom shoves him down, trying for a frog splash on Penta but landing on knees. Lee hits Dom with a Styles Clash and Penta breaks the pin. Penta backdrops Lee onto the apron and follows that by nailing him with a Mexican Destroyer on the apron. Dom swings in with 619 and the frog splash, Penta kicking out as close to a three count as he could kick out. Dom rips off the top turnbuckle and tries to throw Penta into it. Penta reverses, Dom hits the exposed corner and Penta hits a springboard Mexican Destroyer for the three. Penta is going back to MITB.

Penta pins Dominik Mysterio to advance to MITB. I really don’t know what they’re doing with Dom if he isn’t in the MITB match, but maybe they’ll figure it out. Riding Penta’s momentum is always a safe move though. The match itself was very good, one that took me (and the crowd) a bit to get into. It’s worth your time for sure.

The credits roll as Penta celebrates.

A weird episode this week. There was no way this week would match the energy of last week’s Mexico City episode, but this one felt like it was put together by an entirely different team than last week. Some segments felt like they ran too long and there was entirely too much JD McDonagh talking on this episode. Bayley and Lyra felt like a weird anti-climatic stop at a regular match before moving onto the obligatory stipulation grudge match to come. At the same time, they’re doing a good job building up new faces in the women’s division with Lola and an appearance by La Catalina. Riding on the momentum of Penta last week was also smart, though Dom feels a little lost in the shuffle. He’s easily reheatable, but it is a very weird feeling MITB season. I’d say check out the two MITB qualifiers and the Bron-Je’Von deal if you’re looking for things to watch.

It’s a big fight feel tonight as WWE wraps up its big weekend in Mexico City with a gigantic episode of Monday Night Raw. We’ve had three big title changes in three nights with Sami Zayn, Stephanie Vaquer and El Grande Americano all bringing home world championships. Will Penta be able to continue the streak or will The Tribal Chief stomp his plans into the ground in his first Raw match since the first Netflix episode in January 2025?

The last week in WWE: Raw / NXT / Evolve / Main Event / SmackDown / AAA TripleMania Night One and Night Two

Then, Now, Forever, TOGETHER.

THIS is Mexico City, Mexico, and THIS is Arena CDMX, a site that has hosted SmackDown and night two of TripleMania over the weekend (and a TripleMania every year since 2012). For the first time in fifteen years, Raw comes to us from Mexico. We are live on Netflix and presented by DoorDash. The fans are chanting so loud that they almost drown out Joe Tessitore’s intro. Tonight feels special. Before we go any further, let’s take a look at how Penta found his way into this World Championship match.

Arrivals! Roman Reigns steps off a plane while Penta arrives on a horse, riding through a sea of fans as the live crowd immediately starts the Penta chants again.

WWE Hall of Famer and AAA General Manager Rey Mysterio is first out to a crowd that sings every word of his theme. We have a modified entrance tonight with the smaller trons and no ramp. Raw General Manager Adam Pearce is in the ring to greet Rey as the Money in the Bank briefcases hang over the ring. Rey, with his neckbrace, welcomes us to Raw in Mexico for the first time in fifteen years. He’s proud to be a luchador and promotes AAA. He’s proud to represent Mexico. “Tonight’s going to be one of those nights, a historical night.” He sends us a video of the live event in Santiago, Chile, on Saturday night as Liv Morgan lost her Women’s World Championship against Stephanie Vaquer with guest referee, a match you can now watch exclusively on Club WWE (and all over social media).

Rey introduces WWE Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer to lots of smoke and lots of applause and a song. She says it was the joy of her life to win back her title in her home. “Trouble” interrupts with Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio, two people who do not have gold around their waists. She yells about being screwed and tells Stephanie that she knows the only reason she won was because of Becky Lynch. Liv says that with or without the belt, she is the greatest Women’s World Champion of all time. She tells Rey that he is a deadbeat dad but really hit a low hanging around a “puta” like Stephanie. Man, he used to hang around the Filthy Animals. Dom tries to talk but the fans drown him out. “The only thing I see here is a deadbeat and a cheater!” Rey mocks Dom for losing his championship and decides we should watch a video of El Grande Americano defeating Dom for the AAA Mega Championship because he’s a horrible father.

Dom suggests a mixed tag and Pearce yells that Rey is not medically cleared as if Pearce didn’t throw a clearly electrocuted JD McDonagh into a match months ago. The music of AAA Mega Champion El Grande Americano hits and he comes out to a hero’s welcome. The fans sing “Ole, Ole” for him as Liv covers Dom’s ears. Americano accepts the mixed tag match in Rey’s place and Pearce makes it official.

AAA Mega Champion El Grande Americano & WWE Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer (with WWE Hall of Famer & AAA General Manager Rey Mysterio) vs Dominik Mysterio & Liv Morgan

We come back from a break with a hot crowd and Americano taking it to Dirty Dom to the crowd’s delight. Liv tags in and smacks Americano but this is mixed tag rules, so Vaquer flies in and crossbodies Morgan. “La Premiera” chants reign as Liv shoves Stephanie into the Spanish announce table before rolling her back in. Liv knees Stephanie in the corner and rolls her up with a two. Liv hits her Three Amigos and into a dropkick. The men tag in and Americano nails a blockbuster for a two. Dom crotches Americano on the top rope and dropkicks the champ to the floor to send us to a break so we can learn about XOLAIR.

We return to Americano suplexing Mysterio and going to tag Vaquer, only for Liv to yank Vaquer off the apron. Dom superkicks Americano who rebounds into scooping Dom up into an Air Raid for a two. Morgan and Vaquer tag in and Vaquer catches Liv with a running slam and a two. Liv slips away and boots Vaquer who just stares at her, yanking her leg with the dragon screw. Stephanie pounds Morgan to the mat with the Devil’s Kiss and then nails a running Meteora. Dom runs in for the distraction and Liv hits a Codebreaker on Stephanie. Dom attacks and sets Dom up in the 619 position, Liv slapping him. Americano tells her to turn around and Stephanie kicks Liv on Dom’s back. Stephanie hits the 619 on both opponents and both head up top before JD McDonagh, WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez interfere for the DQ.

Rey helps fight the odds before Dom grabs his dad by the neckbrace and drags him in the ring. Americano makes the save and McDonagh nails Americano with his large head. McDonagh moonsaults onto Americano and Liv hits Oblivion on Vaquer, the beatdown on. Dom frog splashes his father and the Judgment Day stands tall once again.

El Grande Americano & Stephanie Vaquer defeat Dominik Mysterio & Liv Morgan by disqualification. A hell of a thing helped by a molten hot crowd. We’re continuing to set the table for the eventual Dom/Rey match as well. Great stuff.

Joe Tessitore and Corey Graves greet us from ringside as do Jerry Soto and Marcelo Rodriguez before we look at The Vision’s actions last week against Oba Femi.

You can vote for one of eight superstars to be featured on one of the covers of WWE 2K27 if you’re part of Club WWE. Joke is on you though because somehow they’ll have six of them on the same cover.

Penta warms up backstage and is met by Dragon Lee. Both men could leave with gold tonight.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Je’Von Evans vs WWE World Tag Team Champion Austin Theory (with Maxxine Dupri) vs Big Cass

Je’Von seems like the pick because of course he should be flying around a ladder match, but never discount WWE’s desire to have Theory or Cass be the least interesting person in the match. Theory won the 2022 MITB match while Evans and Cass are trying to qualify for their first time. Evans is also very popular with this crowd as he dives onto Cass into the announce desk and dodges a charging Theory who falls into the timekeeper’s area. Je’Von starts the run around the ring but is caught by Cass who chokeslams him over the barricade and into Theory to send us to a break to learn about a Wonka Golden Ticket reality show that is apparently a thing happening in 2026.

We come back to Theory grabbing Cass off the top rope onto his shoulders, spinning him to the mat before Je’Von drog splashes Theory. Very impressive for Theory, I’ll admit. The fans chant that “this is wrestling” in Spanish as Je’Von dives outside onto Theory. He tosses Theory back in and runs right into a sidewalk slam by Cass. Dupri pulls Theory to the outside to save him from a boot. Evans springs for the OG Cutter onto Cass who catches him, Evans rolls him into a two. Evans tries again and Cass slaps him down, booting him before Theory rolls Cass outside. Theory covers and Cass pulls him outside, Dupri getting into the face of Cass. Evans leaps into the general area of Cass on the outside. Cass chokeslams Evans onto the apron (the hardest part of the ring!) and sets up the big boot again, Theory running in with a punch to Cass. Evans springs into the picture to cutter Theory on top of Cass. Evans nails the OG Cutter from the top and covers, getting the count and moving on to Money in the Bank.

Je’Von Evans pins Big Cass to advance to Money in the Bank. A few spotty dives aside, these three worked very well together. I’m afraid that, against my usual ways, I’m giving Theory a lot of credit as he was great here. Don’t worry, I’ll return to my role as Chief Theory Hater next week. A very good match. Evans joins Bron Breakker and four to be named in MITB.

Joe and Corey send us to a look at last week’s chapter of the Bloodline story featuring a car being set on fire. Adam Pearce has no control of this show.

Main Event Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso are backstage and think tonight’s the chance to get back. Jacob Fatu walks up and questions if setting off revenge against 946 with Roman defending his belt tonight is the right move. Jacob thinks 946 will try to pick them off one-by-one so they have a clear shot at Roman. He thinks they should stick together.

WWE Intercontinental Championship: WWE Intercontinental Champion Chad Gable vs Dragon Lee

The last time Gable wrestled in Mexico, it was in a match of the year contender against El Grande Americano. The fans are happy to see Gable as well as Lee. I don’t like Lee’s odds but you never know. These two have four televised singles matches against each other and are at 2-2, the last time back in 2025 on a little program named WWE Speed where Gable as Americano won the Speed Championship from Lee. Gable would eventually transfer that title to the other Americano who would lose it on NXT.

The men chain wrestle and trade counters before chopping each other in the corner. Lee drops the Wrecking Ball dropkick onto Gable in the corner and a big running dropkick, Gable rolling outside. Lee sees this as a challenge and topes onto Gable on the outside, rolling Gable back in and hitting him with a crossbody. WIth Gable on the announce table, Lee cannonballs through him to send us to a break.

We return to Gable hitting an Angle Slam from the top rope but not being able to turn it into a three as Corey Graves continues losing his voice, something he’s been battling all weekend. The men battle on their knees before rising to their feet, continuing to trade blows and chops. Gable catches Lee with a sitout powerbomb for a very close kickout. Angle heads up for a moonsault and lands on Lee’s feet. Lee smacks Gable with a running elbow but Gable kicks out. Lee tries for Operation Dragon, Gable rolls it into an anklelock before Lee rolls him into the corner. Lee stomps Gable from the ringpost to the floor and lands hard on his ankle as the fans continue to roar. Both men race in at a nine count and Lee superkicks Gable, Gable tossing him across the ring with a belly-to-belly. Gable gets the moonsault this time and again, Lee survives with a kickout. Gable rolls Lee into two German suplexes, Lee lands on his feet for the third and finally lands Operation Dragon but Gable kicks out at 2.9. Lee tries for Styles Clash, Gable rolls into an ankle lock. Lee tries to roll out and Gable hooks it in before Gable rolls through and hits the Styles Clash. Gable AGAIN kicks out right before three. Hell of a deal going on here. Gable grabs the ankle again and this time, Lee can’t escape. Gable embraces Lee on the mat immediately after the classic.

Chad Gable defeats Dragon Lee by submission to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship. A HELL of a match here on its own, but with this particular crowd it quickly becomes one of Raw’s 2026 classics.

Gable helps Lee up after the match and they shake hands, hugging as Gable gives Lee a kiss on his forehead.

Here’s a vignette on Bayley! She promises to stand in Lyra’s way and this will be the last time someone uses her heart against her. “Lyra, I’m going to show you and the rest of the world why Bayley is the standard of women’s wrestling.”

Celebrities! They love Raw! Oscar Maydon (Mexican singer-songwriter) and Inaki Godoy (One Piece) are here. Celebrities love WWE! We celebrate a three-day attendance total of 49,017 for the Mexico City events.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Raquel Rodriguez vs Lola Vice vs NXT Women’s Champion Kelani Jordan

This is the much hyped Raw debut for Vice but also Jordan’s Raw debut. Raquel was in the 2022 MITB match, a match lost to her Judgment Day sister Liv Morgan. Lola gets a pretty good reaction. Kelani ducks out and lets Raquel and Lola start it off, Raw yelling “welcome to Raw, chickita” as she armbars Lola. Lola starts hitting Raquel with the MMA strikes and hooks her into an armbar, Raquel powering her up before Kelani strikes. Kelani springs into Raquel’s arms and Raquel tries for a chokeslam, Kelani flipping out. The recent NXT girlies team up to clothesline Raquel to the outside before Kelani slams Lola by her hair to the mat. Raquel pulls both women outside and Kelani springboard moonsaults onto her before Lola dives onto her and we hit a commercial break.

We return to Lola dodging a running Raquel who crashes to the floor. Kelani runs Rodriguez into the steel steps and leaps into the ring to battle for a minute. Lola gets Kelani and Raquel down in the corners and nails them with what Joe Tessitore calls “booty bumps,” shocking Graves. Lola runs into a right and Jordan leaps from the top for a rana onto Raquel, Raquel catching her. Kelani leaps onto Lola with a 450 but Lola catches it and turns it into a triangle choke which is impressive. Raquel leaps off the top to break the hold. The Intercontinental Champ scoops Lola up for a Tejana Bomb but Lola hooks on a choke. Raquel tosses her off and kicks Kelani, Lola rolling Raquel up and getting the win.

Lola Vice pins Raquel Rodriguez to advance to Money in the Bank. A pretty good one here too and I’m proud of them for not leaning into the “triple threat means no DQ” rule tonight. Lola looked good her and Kelani appearing with her gave her a familiar opponent to look good against.

946 cut a Shield-style video camera promo and Royce lights his lighter again. “Good luck, Roman.”

Penta struts backstage. Next, his big shot.

Fatal Influence are at Netflix House Dallas and sharing WWE burgers.

Next week, Raw is in San Antonio. We’ll have more qualifying matches though we don’t tell who might be in them.

Joe Hendry has a new album coming out and here’s a clip of the music video “Give Joe Hendry Every Single Belt (Right Now).”

Stephanie walks backstage and comes across Becky Lynch. Stephanie wonders why Becky doesn’t want to help her now. Becky thinks she’s reached her helping threshold but perhaps Vaquer might want to give her the first shot. “Adios, amiga!”

WWE World Heavyweight Championship: WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns vs Penta

Penta enters wearing a large headdress (if you’ve watched the Penta-Gunther match recently uploaded to WWE Vault, it’ll look familiar). In addition to his mass of pyro, he has a sea of lasers this week. The fans give him the full singalong as well before the OTC’s music hits. Solid boos for the Tribal Chief tonight. This is Roman’s first Raw match since the Netflix debut in January 2025 where he defeated Solo Sikoa in Tribal Combat and only his fifth televised Raw match in the 2020s. You have to go all the way back to August 2019 for a Roman Raw singles match before that. The World Heavyweight Championship itself was last defended in a Raw match back in January when CM Punk defended against AJ Styles. The great Alicia Taylor gives us the championship introductions.

The crowd is very, very solidly behind Penta as the bell rings. Roman is at his best when the fans are against him and he taunts Penta who taunts him right back. Roman shoves Penta down and sticks up the finger of acknowledgement to booing. Penta drops elbows on Roman and headbutts him in the corner as the fans chant “si.” Roman kicks out of the barrage in the corner and runs at Penta who dodges, Roman tumbling out and Penta clotheslining him to the floor. Penta dives onto Roman to send us to another commercial break.

We return to Roman towering over Penta in the ring, whipping him hard into the corner. Roman feeds off of the boos as he whips Penta into the other corner, taunting the crowd who are chanting at him. Penta chops Roman and Roman punches him down, looking disgusted. Roman runs into a boot and Penta dodges him, hitting him with rights before Reigns knocks him away again. Penta kicks the leg and drives Roman face-first to the mat. Penta lands a backstabber in the corner but can barely get a two on it. Penta hits a springboard DDT but can’t quite follow up on it for the pin. He grabs Roman’s arm for the Sacrifice and Roman gives very good facial expressions when he realizes he is caught, especially when Penta snaps the arm. Roman is very good at all of this. Penta tries for a driver, Roman grabs him and slams him but holds his arm as we go split-screen so Dominik Mysterio can order chicken tendies from DoorDash. The men roll outside and Roman hits Penta on the run. Roman hits Penta with a second running dropkick  and tosses him back in the ring.

Roman dodges a running Penta and smaches him with a right clothesline before realizing it hurts his arm and switches to left blows. Meanwhile, split screen, a dog takes a dump to advertise dog food. No, for real. Penta knocks Roman outside and tries to leap on him but Roman tosses him to the mat and we return to full-screen action. You may notice that the English announce table was cleared at some point during that ad break. Roman scoops Penta up for a power bomb and delivers right on top of that table. Roman rolls Penta back in and tries for the Superman Punch, but Penta grabs him for a Penta Driver and a very near fall. Can Penta do this? Penta lines up the Destroyer but runs into a Superman Punch, able to kick out at 2.5. The men reset to their corners as Roman shakes his head. Roman calls for the spear and Penta leaps over him, nailing a Mexican Destroyer. Roman runs back with a spear and Penta kicks out at 2.9.

A great camera shot shows us Roman rising over Penta, shaking his head “no” as he yells “He can’t hang with me.” Roman asks for a mic and the crowd is furious. “Acknowledge me!” He tosses the mic and lines up another spear, Penta kicking him and hitting a springboard destroyer for another very near fall. Graves starts telling us about the doubt kicking in for Penta as men rise to their knees together, butting heads. They trade blows up to their feet, the crowd cheering and jeering depending on who is slugging. Penta kicks at Roman but runs into a big fist. Roman tries for another spear, Penta hits another superkick. Penta hits two more of them and Roman is on the ropes. Penta leaps into a super punch and Roman lands the spear. Roman retains.

Roman Reigns pins Penta to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Hell of a match. Roman brought his A-game and made Penta look like a bigger star than he already is. Watch this one. Maybe twice. Despite the hints, no signs of the Bloodline or 946 here.

The looks of sad fans flash across the screen as you can feel the air being let out of the arena as Roman raises his finger. Credits roll and we end on Penta saluting the camera and Roman soaking in the boos. “I don’t hear shit now, yeah!”

The Mexico City crowd, as they did all weekend, elevated the show into something special. Every match was good to the point where I’ll recommend watching the entire show. The I-C and World Title matches were both something special and the atmosphere of the opening promos and the mixed tag attached to them was amazing. A fantastic show.

The very fabric of WWE was ever so slightly changed last night with Sunday Night’s Main Event. Most of that will be felt on SmackDown, but there was one Raw-branded match and now The Vision’s numbers have changed again. How will this affect us on the road to next week’s big show in Mexico City and on our path to Money in the Bank? I guess we better find out!

Monday, Monday, Monday! We don’t get taped Raws very often, but we’re getting one tonight. This was taped back on Friday but it looks like they’ve thrown a pretty good show together. The OTC is even here! Let’s see what is happening. But first…

Hey, it’s Monday! It is 6:00 p.m. (ET) and… time for Raw? Sure! I’m not against it!

Thank you for Garth for filling in for me last week. He did an amazing job and you should check out the many great things he has written. I never did go back and watch it myself. I am excited to get back to it. Let’s see what is on the schedule tonight. checks notes Ah yes, a contract signing. It’s like I never left.

Monday! It has appeared again. With that, Raw is here on Netflix and presented by DoorDash! We have many weeks ahead before Money in the Bank, but we have a Sunday Night’s Main Event, TripleMania and Worlds Collide all to build towards between now and then. Let’s see how we do that tonight.

Happy Monday, friends. We’ve survived SummerSlam weekend and now we’re on the road to checks notes Sunday Night’s Main Event and Worlds Collide before we hit Money in the Bank in October. Who will step up to the Tribal Chief? What do we do now with Oba Femi? When will Liv Morgan defend her title again? Raw is here and it does not promise answers.

Happy Monday once again. It’s time for Raw. This is our last Raw on the road to SummerSlam and we have lots of SummerSlam-related things on the card. Will it be a good show? Well, it’ll probably be better than last week.

Saturday Night’s Main Event has once again happened and now we’re in the final countdown to SummerSlam. Will Raw offer up something interesting tonight or will it be another standard, by the numbers edition? I know how I’m betting!

Tonight, Netflix presents the MLB Home Run Derby! Oh, and also Monday Night Raw!

After a few trips overseas and a double-show taping, Raw is back in its regular time slot and we have a BIG show tonight. Two SmackDown superstars are here to fight for SmackDown’s World Title for reasons. We’re also in Chicago, which could be very coincidental or could weigh heavily in the story. Let’s find out together!

The last week in WWE: Raw / NXT / Evolve / Main Event / SmackDown / Lucha Libre AAA

Then, Now, Forever, Together.

Here’s a look at Sami Zayn winning the Undisputed WWE Champion at Night of Champions, Sami celebrating on SmackDown and Cody Rhodes winning a title shot by defeating Jey Uso.

THIS is the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois, hosting Raw for the 36th time. We are live on Netflix and presented by DoorDash.

Arrivals! Oba Femi, The Judgment Day, and the Street Profits are here. Undisputed WWE Champion Sami Zayn is here as well, pulling up in a convertible with the title raised and honking the horn. He comes across Cody Rhodes. Sami tells Cody that he probably thinks tonight is the night he’s just going to sweep in and be the golden boy champion again, but it isn’t happening. Cody tells him good luck and the fans chant for CM Punk. Gunther runs up to attack, powerbombing Cody through a convenient nearby table. “You’re welcome Sami, Cody is not your problem any more. I’m your problem now.” Gunther says he’s going to come for Sami and when he does… and he kicks a car door right into Cody’s head, Cody bleeding from the ear. Well, that puts a spin on things.

Michael Cole and Corey Graves greet us from ringside, wondering what this means for the main event.

Seth Rollins is our opening promo tonight and gets the singing he usually gets. “Chicago, welcome to Monday Night Rollins.” He works the fans through getting the Punk chants out of their system. “I couldn’t care less about that guy right now.” He tells us his business is the World Heavyweight Championship, SummerSlam and Roman Reigns. The fans respond with an OTC chant now. The Shield debuted as a trio, he says, but it was made clear from the start that Roman was the chosen one. It didn’t sit right with Seth and he points at a little boy in the front row. “I was that boy. I sat in these stands and all I ever wanted to do my entire life was to walk down that ramp, to hold this microphone in my hand, get inside this ring. I wanted to main event WrestleManias, I wanted to be the biggest star in this industry. Those were my dreams and to watch those dreams be handed off to somebody else? That broke something in me and every decision that I made after that was in direct response to watching my dreams be handed off to somebody that I didn’t feel deserved it.” He knows his actions were petty but he believed if he put in the work, he could still achieve those dreams. It has never been about the money for him, the reward has always been the work. Roman has to beat him at SummerSlam because he needs to justify what he’s been trying to prove to himself for the last fifteen years, that he’s not a fraud.

L.A. Knight is here to finally interrupt the monologue and Chicago is hyped to see him. A sign in the crowd says THANK YOU FELLA, a tribute to Sheamus. Knight says he wasn’t listening to this two weeks in a row because Seth is out here putting people to sleep. Knight remembers back when you had to win matches to get title shots, reminding Seth that they both lost in the first round of the King of the Ring. Knight makes fun of the “brother” talk from last week and earns a chant from the crowd. He remembers making his rise before the Bloodline cut him off and then coming across the Vision. He says they’re the greatest at manipulating numbers but they can’t and won’t stop him from rising. Seth tells Knight that his time will come but he can’t worry about Knight right now because he has to go get his title back, telling Knight he’ll be the first he puts in the dirt if he wins. Really good promo from Knight. As Seth leaves, Jimmy Uso appears in the ring and superkicks Knight and the fans aren’t liking it.

Raw General Manager Adam Pearce is yelling at Gunther before SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis comes to yell as well. Gunther tells him that he failed as a wrestler and now he’s failing as a GM. Aldis is mad that Pearce poached his main event and tells Pearce that Cody was attacked and it is on Pearce.

Jackie Redmond is with The Vision’s Bron Breakker, Austin Theory and Logan Paul. They’re immediately interrupted by WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman, who tells Jackie to scurry. He says Breakker couldn’t take out Rollins and Theory couldn’t take out Joe Hendry. “Come back with something worthy of your Wiseman or don’t come back to me at all.”

WWE World Tag Team Championship: WWE World Tag Team Champions The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) vs The Vision (Bron Breakker and Austin Theory with Logan Paul)

Theory and Ford start it off and the crowd is all over Logan already. Dawkins tags in and slams his partner on top of Theory, something Theory easily kicks out of. Theory thrusts Dawkins into the corner and tags in Bron. Bron hits the gas pedal and runs over Dawkins with a clothesline to send us to a break.

Ford gets a hot tag as we return, kicking Bron in the head and flying in with a crossbody for a two count. Bron pops up Ford and hits a power slam, tagging in Theory who rolls right into a superkick because he’s a big dummy. Dawkins tags in and nails a Blockbuster off the top for a two count, stopped by Bron. Bron slings Ford outside and Theory catches Dawkins with a left hand. Logan slides the brass knuckles into the ring and the referee catches it. As the ref tosses Paul, he slides a second pair in and Dawkins nails Theory. Dawkins gets a hold of them as Logan argues with the ref when Maxxine Dupri appears to low blow Dawkins. Theory covers and that’s a title victory. After the match, Dupri jumps into Theory’s arms and gives him a big kiss.

Austin Theory pins Angelo Dawkins, The Vision defeats The Street Profits to become the new WWE World Tag Team Champions. The nut shot is always the lamest way to lose. This was the most entertained I’ve been by a Vision tag match in a while, probably because it didn’t have the long heat segment. I like Maxxine getting an edge. The Vision will continue until morale improves. I’d like to see the Profits get more time as champs, but perhaps the follow through will be good for them and they won’t just disappear again.

The medical squad checks on Cody and the medic tells Pearce that he can’t sign off on Cody. Cody says he’s fine, Pearce says no. Pearce, of course, weeks ago told a man who had been electrocuted minutes earlier that he was signing him up for a match. All I’m saying is that Nick Aldis would never and Pearce is inconsistent..

The Vision boys and girl celebrate and come across Heyman. Heyman nods. “Okay, first step but it’s only the first step.” He says at least someone got something accomplished tonight and points at Maxxine. As the Vision crew climb into their car and roll off, we see Akira Tozawa and Otis walking up and the crowd gasps.

To the Judgment Day Clubhouse. Liv Morgan tells Raquel Rodriguez that they’re doing everything in their power to make sure she leaves with gold. Raquel says she’s ripping the title off Sol Ruca’s waist.

Jackie Redmond is with WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta as we learn we’ll have a gauntlet match next week to determine his SummerSlam contender. Ethan Page and Rusev walk up to laugh that they’ve put Rey Mysterio on the shelf. Dragon Lee tells them to watch their mouths and Rusev tells him to learn English. Chad Gable joins them to defend his masked buddy and Page thinks they should go talk to Pearce and set up a tag team match.

WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship: WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Sol Ruca vs Raquel Rodriguez

Cole tells us Cody is on the way to the hospital to get scans to clear him for tonight. Good luck with that, that’s like a four-hour ER wait. Cole also reminds us that the last time Raquel held singles gold, it was in NXT. Ruca lifts Raquel out of a bridge and tries to roll her up. Sol kicks Raquel and slips before flying onto her shoulders, Raquel catching her with the Snake Eyes onto the turnbuckle. Raquel charges at Sol, Sol ducks and tries to moonsault onto her. Sol cartwheels on the apron, hits a kick and corkscrews onto her. In the ring, Raquel clotheslines the hell out of Sol to send us to break and Becky Lynch with the DoorDash bag.

After John Cena tells us about the benefits of Chime, we come back to Sol spring boarding onto Raquel for a near fall. Sol shoulder blocks Raquel several times but can’t chop her down until she nails a missile dropkick. Sol nails the Shining Wizard for a two count. Sol tries to splash Raquel but misses as Roxanne Perez finally joins us at ringside. Sol slides out of a Tejana Bomb attempt and Roxanne distracts the ref. Sol tries for a Sol Snatcher, WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan appears and grabs her leg to prevent it. Here’s Iyo Sky to leap off Rox from the barricade and kick down Olivia. Iyo Moonsaults on the shorter Judgment Day women and Sol takes it as a chance to hit Raquel with the Sol Snatcher, retaining the title.

Sol Ruca pins Raquel Rodriguez to retain the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship. There were a few sloppy spots in this, but overall an enjoyable match. They had me thinking maybe they were going to put the belt on Raquel for a few, so it all worked. She’ll have singles gold before this time next year I bet.

Here’s a sneak peak at season three of WWE Unreal, a thing happening on Netflix in a few weeks featuring John Cena’s retirement, the rise of Oba Femi, CM Punk and AJ Lee, and of course the center of our universe Triple H.

WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman is in the ring because we need more Paul Heyman on this show, damn it. He says he is here to talk about Oba Femi. He says that Oba being hit in the nuts last time is nothing compared to the pain coming to him at Hell in a Cell. He promises Brock will destroy Oba. We were told WWE King of the Ring Oba Femi was here, so it is no shock that this is the point he decides to make his grand entrance. The fans, as always, are very into Oba, chanting through the whole thing. Oba says he came out to give Paul a face to talk to, and Paul gives us the “talk shit, get hit” line from last week. He gives Oba credit for WrestleMania but says that Brock proved Oba is also beatable in Italy. He reminds Oba that Brock has a good history in a cage both in WWE and UFC. “That Cell is the Brocktagon.” Okay. One man will leave SummerSlam with their reputation of being the unbeatable superstar, Heyman says, and that man is Brock Lesnar. “The beatable one is going to be Oba Femi.”

Paul tosses the mic and Oba lifts his own. The fact that Brock showed up proves that Brock watches the show, he says, but now Heyman keeps writing checks that Brock can’t cash. “That’s what you are, Paul. You’re less than an advocate. You’re just a mouth. And that’s the thing about a mouth, mouths need to be fed. But how can you feed if you have no head?” Paul is also very good at writing checks that can’t be cashed. He says that Paul is scared because every man knows when his time has come and this is the final chapter for Brock. “In front of his friends, in front of his family, in front of his wife, in front of his children.” He says you have to walk through hell to get to heaven and tells Paul to let Brock know he’ll see him in hell. A hell of a promo yet again for Oba.

Jackie Redmond is with Sami Zayn, taping his wrists. She confirms Cody can’t compete tonight and a smile lights up on Sami’s face and the fans immediately chant for CM Punk. Sami says he’s a good guy, perhaps the last good one, and he doesn’t wish ill upon Cody. Adam Pearce walks up and asks Sami if he knows where they are. He promised Chicago a championship match and tells Sami to prepare because he’s defending tonight.

Here’s a look at El Grande Americano attending the World Cup yesterday, something that is going on right as this program airs but also please don’t turn the channel. You can buy a WWE x FIFA World Cup Championship Title because of course you can.

Chad Gable and Dragon Lee vs Rusev and Ethan Page

All four men will be competing next week in the gauntlet along with Je’Von Evans, Dominik Mysterio and Joe Hendry to determine who is going to battle Penta at SummerSlam. The heels attack to start as Cole wonders what happens if Page and Rusev are the last two in the gauntlet match. Gable gets a hot tag and suplexes Rusev around the squared circle before tossing Page across the ring as well. Rusev pulls Ethan out of the ring and Gable suplexes a running Lee out of the ring and onto Page and Rusev for our ad break highlight moment.

We come back to Rusev beating down Gable as Cole reminds us we have no idea who Sami will defend his title against tonight. Gable DDTs Rusev and gets the hot tag to Lee while Rusev tags in Page. Lee drops the corner boot onto Page and hits a tornado DDT even without hitting the rope to get the momentum to spin. Rusev nails Gable with a kick, Lee kicks Rusev in the face and goes up top. Rusev catches him with a slam and a kick, hooking the Accolade on. Lee actually taps and Rusev won’t let go. Gable hooks Rusev from behind and deadlifts him in a suplex attempt, Page coming in for the beat down. Gable’s in the Accolade until Joe Hendry appears. Hendry hits a fallaway slam on Page and Rusev kicks him down as well. Page lands the Ego Plex and now it’s Hendry’s turn for the Accolade.

Rusev makes Dragon Lee submit, Rusev & Page defeat Lee & Gable. A good enough match with some good development in the post-match ruckus. I was shocked that Rusev actually won with the Accolade which is not a good sign of how the move has worked since his return. Also where is Je’Von?

Jimmy Uso is leaving and Jackie runs up after him, asking what message he was trying to send. Big Jim says he’s going to SmackDown to get Solo. Knight comes up to confront and Jacob Fatu lays him right out, followed by a smiling Main Event Jey Uso.

Pearce is on the phone trying to find a challenger for tonight. Otis is there! Give him a shot.

Here’s a vignette on Bayley with some words for Lyra Valkyria.

Next week, Brock Lesnar will be here, we’ll have the gauntlet match, and Iyo Sky faces Roxanne Perez. The OTC will be there too.

Pearce is texting as Aldis wanders up behind him. Pearce says he made a successful call and has secured a replacement to face Sami. “That superstar is in the building.” The fans chant for a certain Chicago native as Sami heads to the Gorilla position.

The great Alicia Taylor gives Sami the big championship introduction as Sami fist bumps a girl with a sign saying it is her birthday. The last real good guy! Boy, they’re going to have to do something wild to win back this crowd if the challenger is not in fact a certain Chicago resident. The fans chant for CM Punk before we see the Allstate Arena door open and CM Punk, walking into the arena. He walks from the door to Gorilla as “Cult of Personality” hits and the Allstate Arena explodes.

Undisputed WWE Championship: Undisputed WWE Champion Sami Zayn vs CM Punk

We last saw Punk, of course, in a losing effort at WrestleMania against Roman Reigns. Zayn last competed on this program in a win over Rusev back in August. The Undisputed WWE Championship itself was last defended on a Raw way back in November 2021 when Big E successfully defended it against Austin Theory in the Barclays Center before it evolved into being called the Undisputed WWE Championship.

The fans boo Sami loudly every time he overtakes Punk in the starting run of the match. Punk pulls Zayn outside and slams him to the apron before diving onto him with a suicide dive, our very favorite way to send the show to a commercial break.

We return to Sami taunting a downed Punk. Sami knees Punk to the mat. Punk fights back with a running knee – “Vintage Punk,” calls Cole – as Punk hits a spinning neckbreaker for a two count. Punk signals for the GTS, lifting Sami up and Sami slithering out. Punk counters a Blue Thunder Bomb attempt and hammer locks Sami into a clothesline and another pin attempt. The fans chant for Punk as he heads to the top rope, Sami knocking him down and suplexing him to send us to one final break.

The men are trading blows when we return as Cole reminds us of the title’s 60-plus year history. Punk tries for a GTS, Sami slips out and Punk hits the corner knee. Sami grabs Punk as he plays to the crowd, spinning into the Blue Thunder Bomb for a two count. Punk knees at Zayn and this time lands the bulldog, going up and landing his Macho Man elbow for a near fall. Punk locks the Anaconda Vice and Zayn tries to fight it, flailing and finally counting out. In his pink and black gear, Punk tries for a Sharpshooter but Sami kicks out. Those of us who have played through WWE 2K26 are having flashbacks to CM Hart. Punk scoops him for the GTS and Sami rolls through, this time not getting the surprise three count. One more GTS attempt and Sami again scoops his way out, grabbing his own GTS for a near fall. Sami signals for the Helluva Kick and takes a while to go for it, Punk catching him with the Exploder into the corner. Sami hits another GTS on Punk and a Blue Thunder Bomb, Punk again kicking out.

Sami slaps Punk, telling him he is the champion now. The fans are hating it. Punk works his way to his feet and starts trading blows, hitting the running knee on Sami and dodging a Helluva Kick. Punk hits his own Helluva Kick and lands the GTS. The reign of Sami Zayn ends at nine days, the shortest reign since The Miz and his eight day reign in 2021.

CM Punk pins Sami Zayn to become the new Undisputed WWE Champion. A very, very good match. I’d like to see Sami get a longer run, but I feel like they might spin this into something fun for Sami and it’s cool he got the title in the first place. I think we might’ve just found something for Cody to do at SummerSlam (if not Sami and Gunther as well).

We close our show with Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk celebrating with his title, telling the camera, “I’ll be home in twenty minutes, babe” and then blowing a kiss, leaving through the crowd as he has done before in this arena.

A good episode this week. The main event is worth your viewing time because it is Punk vs Zayn in Chicago. None of the other matches feel “can’t miss” and you can digest just as well through YouTube highlights, but I would also recommend checking the Oba promo.

We’ve survived a weekend FULL of wrestling, but now Monday is here and so is Monday Night Raw. Night of Champions is in the past and the road to SummerSlam begins with a pit stop at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

We’re back overseas again which means it’s a Monday afternoon (or even morning in some cases) Raw for those of us in North America. We also have Night of Champions coming up this Saturday and the matches for it are mostly already set, so I’m not sure there will be that much excitement. Let’s find out together!

After a few weeks overseas, we return to the United States for Monday Night Raw. Well, until next week when we have Raw is London and then head to Saudi for Night of Champions.

Before we jump in, let’s promote my new NXT 2.0 Rewind. Once upon a time, WWE decided to introduce Bron Breakker and Trick Williams in one show. It might go down as one of the more historic nights as time goes on. Besides that, we had a wedding!

The last week in WWE: Raw / NXT / Evolve / SmackDown / Lucha Libre AAA

Then, Now, Forever, Together.

Welcome to Baltimore, Maryland. This is CFG Bank Arena and this is Monday Night Raw, live on Netflix and presented on DoorDash. Here’s a look at the Bloodline drama from SmackDown with special guests L.A. Knight, Royce Keys and Finn Balor.

Arrivals! Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso arrive in multiple vehicles and Roman is handed his belt. They’re on the way to the ring but come across Jacob Fatu, hand out only for his Tribal Chief.

The Bloodline (WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns, Main Event Jey Uso, Big Jim uso and Jacob Fatu) join us in the arena to start things off. After his extended entrance, two sets of pyro, an OTC chant, a crowd song and lots of fingers in the air, Roman commands acknowledgement at 8:10. The fans are happy to oblige. Roman says we have a lot to be grateful for like Jey advancing in King of the Ring, asking for acknowledgement of the Yeet Man as well. He also knows that without Big Jim, there wouldn’t be a right hand man, a Tribal Chief or a Bloodline. We acknowledge Big Jim. The fans chant “Fatu” and Jey says yeah, there’s one person that hasn’t been acknowledged and who doesn’t listen.

Roman thinks that perhaps we have a problem and steps face-to-face with Fatu. Fatu snatches his mic and says “hell nah,” he doesn’t listen to Jimmy and Jey. “The only person that I acknowledge is my OTC Roman Reigns.” He hands the mic back to Roman. Roman: “Good. We don’t need yes men around here.” He calls for a man to bring a box to the ring and pulls out a wooden Ula Fala. Roman says that the Bloodline has always been here and is forever. He tells us about the Wild Samoans, Yokozuna, Rikishi, Umaga, The Usos all being The Bloodline. Roman reminds Jacob that he’s on the inside and welcomes him to the family business. “Jacob, welcome to the Bloodline.” He places the Ula Fala on Jacob and salutes as the Usos look on. Jimmy eventually joins the salute and finally Jey joins as well.

Corey Graves and Joe Tessitore greet us from ringside. Celebrities! They love Raw! Eric Andre is at ringside to promote his new show, “Little Brother,” which costars John Cena. His “Street Fighter” costar Roman acknowledges him on the way out. Andre touches the Ula Fala and Fatu yanks him over the barrier and tosses him into the ring, headbutting the hell out of him. The squad of officials come out and try to get in between Jacob and the fallen Andre and Roman calls Jacob off. Then Roman reverses decision and Fatu heads up top, hitting the splash on Andre as Roman smirks at Raw General Manager Adam Pearce. They leave and then Roman declares one more time, with Jacob running in and splashing Andre a second time. Celebrities! They… might not come to Raw for a few weeks.

Queen of the Ring Semifinal Match: Iyo Sky vs Raquel Rodriguez

The winner of this will face the winner of Liv Morgan vs Charlotte Flair in the finals at Night of Champions. Iyo attacks and clubs Raquel in the corner before Raquel finally catches her and crossbodies her. Raquel follows Iyo to the outside and tosses Iyo onto the timekeeper’s area barricade and clears the lid off the announce table. Iyo fights back into the ring and hooks on a guillotine; Raquel fades and then turns it into a vertical suplex. Raquel tumbles to the floor and Iyo dives onto her, Raquel catching her and throwing her dart-style into the ting post to send us to a break.

Back to it, Iyo is tossing a spinning back elbow and rolls Raquel into the stomp. Iyo calls for and lands the Bullet Train. She heads up to the second rope, missile dropkicks Raquel, and the fans are all in on her as she makes crown motions. Raquel ducks a second Bullet Train and catches Iyo, lifting her into the air, Iyo fighting out of it. Iyo tries to sunset flip Raquel on the outside and Raquel stomps her way out of it, scooping up Iyo and being shoved right into that announce table. With Raquel over the table, Iyo jumps from the barricade and Raquel sweeps her onto the table. Rodriguez yanks Iyo back into the ring and Iyo smacks her into the ring post, then hits a sunset power bomb on Raquel. Iyo heads up for the Over the Moonsault and nails it, getting the pin.

Iyo Sky pins Raquel Rodriguez. Great match. The fans adore Iyo and she continues to be one of the best wrestlers on the planet. Raquel continues to be a really good opponent. This was good. Iyo heads to Night of Champions and has twelve days to go shopping for a bodysuit that covers everything.

Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez are strolling backstage. Liv heads into… Danhausen’s laboratory??? He greets “Olivia” and sings a bit of “Trouble.” She pulls her jacket off and reveals her Danhausen shirt. She’s trying to flirt but he’s oblivious, celebrating finding his jar of human teeth. She asks him to curse Oba Femi. He agrees in exchange for human monies, magazine covers, his own song and being in her music videos. She sighs and leaves. “See ya, Olivia!” Danhausen is a delight. I appreciate that he travels with a full lab.

We come back from break to a new documentary video on Danhausen (produced by Danhausen) and his journey with the New York Knicks. He curses the ESPN guy, uncurses the Knicks, and the Knicks win it all. Danhausen goes to a game, has official NBA merchandise, and meets Cardi B and Tina Fey. What a story. And as Danhausen noted on Twitter, he’s only been in WWE for just over a hundred days.

Here’s a vignette with Seth Rollins. He has some words for Bron Breakker and will see him in a steel cage at Night of Champions.

Pearce chats with Lyra Valkyria, telling her that her title shot is finally going to happen. She leaves and L.A. Knight appears. Knight is mad about SmackDown and continues to accuse Pearce of being biased towards the Bloodline.

You can go to Fanatics.com and bid for the El Grande Americano Americano mask from Noche de Los Grandes, with 100% of the proceeds benefiting Dr. Sonrisas supporting children facing life-threatening health conditions in Mexico.

Jackie Redmond is backstage with Chad Gable. When he’s done with Rusev, he has some others to apologize to tonight. He walks by and sees Maxxine Dupri talking to WWE World Tag Team Champion Austin Theory and heads on to the ring with his new theme song which is not great. Def Rebel has to be stopped.

Chad Gable vs Rusev (with Ethan Page)

We last saw Gable as Gable on Raw in June 2025 in a losing effort to AJ Styles. Gable and Rusev have an odd last three matches together with the 2026 Rumble match, teaming together as part of Team Hogan at Crown Jewel 2019 and both losing the 51-man battle royal at Super Showdown 2019. They have two televised singles matches on SmackDown in 2017.

Rusev suplexes Gable, Gable counters with a few of his own. Gable gets a big belly-to-belly suplex and tries for the ankle lock, Rusev ducking outside to break it. Gable follows out and is shoved into the steel steps. Rusev suplexes Gable onto the floor and hammers Gable into the announce table. Gable snatches up Rusev and drops him onto the table and tosses him into the ring, Page distracting him long enoug for Rusev to shove him back into the desk. Rusev runs out and throws Gable across the table with a fallaway slam and we go to a DoorDash commercial.

After about eight of those commercials, the men are trading blows. Gable grabs ahold of Rusev and hits a German suplex. Rusev climbs up top and Gable drops him to the mat, pulling down the straps. Gable hooks the ankle lock, Rusev squirms into an Accolade and Gable dodges the kick to hook his lock again. Rusev grabs for Page’s hand, Gable drags him away so Page runs in and gets clotheslined out. This gives Rusev a chance to nail the kick and try for a pin, Gable kicking out at two. Rusev hooks the Accolade again. Gable breaks free and is able to get the Angle Slam, hooking the ankle again and this time getting the tap.

Chad Gable defeats Rusev by submission. This was a good showcase for Gable and he won the crowd over. Hopefully they’ll keep it going.

Page and Rusev attack after the match, WWE Hall of Famer & AAA General Manager Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee come for the save. They show him the respect of lucha after the match.

Roman is directing a text to his assistant backstage when the Usos interrupt, asking why things that happened an hour ago happened. Roman says he called an audible and wonders why nobody has handled L.A. Knight. Perhaps he should send a Werewolf. Jimmy says he’s going to go talk to Knight.

Our WWE Hometown Hero is Lance Corporal Jheyco Borda, seated at ringside..

Celebrities! They love Raw! Zuffa boxer Jalil Hackett is here. Nasheed Smith is here. Celebrities!

Bron Breakker has a vignette of his own and his own thoughts about Seth Rollins.

L.A. Knight is joining us in the arena for some thoughts, introduced by the great Alicia Taylor. He takes a seat on top of the Slim Jim logo and talks about losing on SmackDown and how he had to get to Baltimore. He might’ve lost in the King of the Ring tournament but he doesn’t give up because he always fights the numbers. He didn’t have a famous dad or a Tribal Chief. Jimmy Uso interrupts and says he knows Knight has legit beef with his family but it is different now. Solo doesn’t run with his crew. That brings us Main Event Jey Uso for some thoughts of his own. He agrees with Jimmy and says they’ve told Knight over and over that Solo is on his own. Jey tells Knight that he’s here to tell him that he’s better than him and he needs Knight to acknowledge HIM. Knight didn’t expect this coming but it is a compelling offer.

He acknowledges with a finger in the air. “I acknowledge you… can kiss my ass.” Knight pounds at Jey, Jimmy superkicks to break it up. Jimmy is yelling at Knight that he was trying to tell him while Jey runs out to grab a chair. Knight gets ahold of it and chairs both men before Fatu runs out and hooks the Tongan Death Grip on Knight, taking him down to the mat. Fatu looks over at the Usos and leaves, Jey storming after him. I enjoy Knight and I’m fine with the story but man we’re doing a lot of Bloodline talking tonight. Remember wrestling? We used to have that here.

Backstage, the Usos argue. Jacob says he did it the OTC way.

NXT Origins: Alexa Bliss. We look back at Alexa’s transformations in NXT and her rise through WWE.

Charlotte Flair (with Alexa Bliss) vs Roxanne Perez (with WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan)

With Charlotte and Liv coming to battle in the days ahead, I’m not expecting things to end cleanly here. This is the first singles meeting between these two. Charlotte tries for a chop, Rox grabs her arm and tosses it into the ring post and we play up the hand damage to send us to even more DoorDash commercials.

After those commercials, Charlotte has chopped back control but her hand is in pain. Rox chops at Charlotte in the corner and Flair stares right at her, trying for a choke. Charlotte climbs to thee top and Liv runs Bliss into the ring post as Charlotte lands a fallaway slam on Rox. Charlotte chops with the uninjured left hand. Charlotte gets the walkover clothesline and a boot on Rox for a two, smirking at the kickout. Charlotte climbs the ropes, Liv gets on the apron to distract and it works as Rox pulls Charlotte to the mat. Rox lands a springboard moonsault for a two and this crowd is just not into this match. Rox runs into a boot and Charlotte and Rox do a convoluted series of rollups involving their partners. Charlotte bridges the Figure-8 and Rox has no choice but to tap.

Charlotte Flair defeats Roxanne Perez by submission. This happened. It wasn’t particularly bad, but the crowd did not care and I think everyone saw that the interference was coming.

Je’Von Evans is walking. We’ll hear from him next.

An ad for CM Punk at Fanatics Fest airs. But the internet told me…

Je’Von Evans joins us in the arena for some words with Jackie Redmond. He tells Jey Uso through the camera that he’s putting a belt to his ass and yeeting him out of the competition. He’s interrupted by The Vision (Logan Paul and WWE World Tag Team Champion Austin Theory) in a surprise appearance. Paul tells Je’Von that he is a generational talent and has untapped potential. Theory’s tan is wild. Logan reaches an arm out to invite Je’Von into the Vision. “Hell nah,” replies Je’Von. He’s seen the injury curse. Logan says it wasn’t an invitation, it was a mandate. “Je’Von Evans, YOU’RE IN THE VISION.” Je’Von tells him to back up before he leaves with no arms as Theory echoes that he join the Vision. Evans pulls of his pants and calls for a ref and here’s a ref.

WWE World Tag Team Champion Austin Theory vs Je’Von Evans

After a break, we join the match in progress. Evans leaps over Theory and hits a rana before leaping on the outside onto Theory. The fireflies are out and the fans are singing to Logan. Theory dodges an in-ring dive and we get an extended Theory beat-down. Theory hits Evans to the outside and we go to another commercial. It’s 10:10 and we still have Oba/Dom to go.

We enter our third segment of Austin Theory when we return from break. Je’Von argues with Logan outside, Theory attacks. Evans clotheslines Theory into the timekeeper’s area and runs around the ring before leaping into Theory and the barricade. Evans tosses Theory back into the ring and hits the Red Dot goes up for the OG Cutter, WWE World Tag Team Champion Bron Breakker appearing to spear him and end the match.

Je’Von Evans defeats Austin Theory by disqualification. This was long. The pacing for this show hit a wall when the second Bloodline segment happened.

The Vision attack, the Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) come out for the slow save. I’m sure we have a tag title match incoming.

We go back to the OTC’s locker room. Jacob tells Roman that he handled the problem. Roman tells Jacob that the Usos don’t understand Jacob but he does. “As long as you understand me, there’s no stopping us.”

Next week, we go to London. We’ll have a 2 p.m. ET start time which means I won’t be along with a review until about five hours later. We’ll see the Vision vs Profits for the World Tag Team Titles. We’ll have Lyra Valkyria getting a tag title shot with Bayley against Paige and Brie Bella.

King of the Ring Semifinal Match: Oba Femi vs AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio (with JD McDonough)

Even Corey on commentary is saying that Dom has no chance here. Oba starts making his entrance at 10:27, so you know there can’t be much to this one. Dom is giving us fear on the outside which is very fair. The bell rings and Dom immediately ducks outside and covers his ears for the Oba chanting. Dom comes in and bails again. On our third try, Dom ducks into the corner and then shoves Oba before running. Oba chases and Dom hits a dropkick. Oba catches Dom with a body shot and tossing him over the announce table. Well. JD sneaks up from behind and streaks into the crowd while Dom grabs the bell hammer. Oba yanks Dom back into the ring and JD returns to take a huge fist. Dom low blows Oba and hits the 619 with the hammer in his boot, hitting the frog splash and being thrown off at a one count.

Oba grabs both Judgment Day men for a double chokeslam and smashes both with running uppercuts. Dom stumbles into being pizza tossed across the ring and lands the Fall From Grace for the easy pin.

Oba Femi pins Dominik Mysterio. Exactly what it needed to be. Oba moves on and Dom was a weasel. Femi will face the winner of SmackDown’s Uso/Evans match.

Post-match, Oba has a mic. “One. One match away and then the Ruler will have his crown. We finish it, we tie up all the lose ends, we beat who we need to beat.” He’s surprised Brock didn’t show his face tonight. He questions if Brock is even a man at all. “So what’s your legacy going to be?” He is the mountain Brock can’t climb and the future King. “I will be king and you will just be the man who ran from Oba Femi.” The credits roll and we end our night with the fans chanting for Oba.

A tale of two halves tonight. The show was rolling strong up until we hit our second in-ring Bloodline segment of the night. From there, the pacing just died. We had the Charlotte/Rox match that didn’t really hit, we ran into a string of talking, and then for some reason we had Austin Theory stretched across three segments. Oba/Dom was what it needed to be and brought the crowd back into things, but I felt every second of the hour before. Check out Iyo/Raquel and Gable/Rusev, hit the FF button and catch the end. I promise the Knight/Bloodline stuff will be in replays next week.

Next week, London! See you then!

We’re on Paris time, so it is Afternoon Raw time again for those of us in the U.S. We’re continuing the road to crowning a King and a Queen of the Ring, so let’s see who can find their way into the next round this week.

The last week in WWE: Raw / NXT / Evolve / SmackDown / Noche de los Grandes Night Two

Then, Now, Forever, Together.

This is the Eiffel Tower!  This is Paris, France and the Accor Arena. And this? This is Raw live on Netflix and presented by DoorDash.

Arrivals! Penta! Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee! Sol Ruca! Alexa Bliss! Je’Von Evans! 

Oba Femi is first out in the arena tonight to a monstrous response. This crowd is already FIRED up and I almost wish we got international crowds every week. Step up your game, US. They do a very cool shot of Oba’s silhouette over a section of the fans before giving us the split screen entrance again to show fans doing the chant. They’re nailing everything about this man’s presentation. Oba tells the fans they are wonderful and tries to talk, but the crowd cuts him off for another monstrous round of Oba chanting.

Oba says he has a spoiler for the Paris crowd, that being that he will run through the King of the Ring tournament and take his rightful place on the throne as King. “That is not a prediction, that is a spoiler.” He’s taking the crown but he has one more trophy to collect, the head of Brock Lesnar. He promises to settle the score when he sees him.

With monstrous boos erupting, AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio interrupts. Dom tries to talk through the loud Paris crew, calling Oba a rookie. Dirty Dom says he is a twenty-year veteran, the king of the luchadors and as future King of the Ring he will rule over Oba. Dom tells Oba to go ahead and bend the knee and “respect the stache.” The fans have not stopped chanting for Oba. JD McDonough appears behind Oba and nails him with a chair, Oba turns around and punches the chair into JD. Dom hits the distracted Oba with a 619 and leaps off the top, Oba catching him and tossing him across the ring like he weighs five pounds. The Judgment Day boys run and the Oba chants kick up again. Oba: “Dom, you messed up tonight. We all know that Rey Mysterio is your father. Next week, I will introduce you to your DADDY.” Masterful segment that shows just how big Oba is these days and how easily Dom can be reheated.

Corey Graves and Michael Cole greet us from ringside alongside the French announce team Christophe Agius and Nadir Mohammedi. We also have the great Alicia Taylor on the microphone tonight.

Jackie Redmond is back and she’s with Seth Rollins. You can hear the fans chant for Seth from within the arena, something Seth acknowledges, and Seth remembers being World Heavyweight Champion and leader of the Vision last time he was here. He says he’ll win the tournament and take back his title that he never lost. “I have a date somewhere down the line with Roman Reigns, a man that I used to call a brother, a man who can’t seem to win his titles on his own, a man who can’t seem to beat Seth Rollins when it matters most.”

Queen of the Ring First Round Match: Alexa Bliss vs Chelsea Green vs Becky Lynch vs WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan

Hi, can I get Chelsea on Raw more often please? We last saw her in action on Raw in July 2025, teaming with Naomi, Alba Fyre and Piper Niven in a losing effort Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky, Nikki Bella and Stephanie Vaquer. This is also Liv’s first match since her WrestleMania title win, a great birthday gift for her. Cole reminds us that fellow Judgment Day member Raquel Rodriguez qualified on Friday as the fans sing a birthday song to Liv. Liv dances around to the chant as the other three start the battle. Alexa dives on Becky, Chelsea dives on the blondes, saluting the crowd before Becky shoves her into the ring post and gives her own salute to send us to frozen pizza commercials.

We return to all four women down and the fans chanting for Becky. Bliss sentons onto Becky and Liv and Chelsea offers friendship before booting Alexa of course. A lot of back and forth action and near falls as we continue to go through crowd chants. Becky pounds away at the others and tosses Liv  and Chelsea out, narrowing the battle down for a few to Alexa. Alexa counters a Manhandle Slam as we get a French “this is awesome” chant. Bliss blocks Liv’s Oblivion into a Sister Abigail but Becky breaks it, grabbing Alexa for a Manhandle Slam. Chelsea breaks that up and hits the Unpretty-her on Becky, Liv rolls through that to get the pin. Happy birthday, Liv.

Liv Morgan pins Chelsea Green to advance in the Queen of the Ring tournament. First, I can’t write though how much THIS crowd is elevating EVERYTHING. That said, this was great anyway. All four of these women work very well together. Liv will face the winner of SmackDown’s Ruca vs Valkyria vs Flair vs Cargill match.

Corey hypes up TripleMania 34 tickets and we hype the Mysterio/Penta match we’re getting tonight. Blessed timeline.

Penta is joined backstage by Chad Gable. Gable says he’s done a lot over the last two years he is ashamed of and it all started because he lost to Penta. He doesn’t expect anything from Penta but he apologizes. Penta tells Chad that it isn’t easy to say you’re wrong and he respects that, but there is someone else Chad needs to talk to if he wants to do right by lucha libre.

We get a view of the Atlanta skyline as Cole breaks the news that we have Sunday Night’s Main Event coming in September now that Money in the Bank has again shifted on the timeline.

Rollins is met backstage by Montez Ford. Ford wishes him luck, Rollins thanks him for last week. Jacob Fatu, Big Jim Uso and Main Event Jey Uso pop in to tell Seth to be careful how they talk about the family. Jey says he is winning and Seth congrats him for being in the tournament at least, while Big Jim is on the sidelines “where the Tribal Chief wants him.” Seth tells him he is never talking about the family, his problem is always with Roman. Jey tells Jacob to “get” Seth, Jacob stares Seth down and walks away.

Bayley ding dongs Lyra Valkyria backstage and tells her how excited she is for her. Bayley says to get back what she deserves.

WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship: WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Sol Ruca vs Lyra Valkyria

Lyra is getting her first Intercontinental Title shot in almost a year, having been held down by the stipulation of losing against Becky at SummerSlam. Ruca flips Lyra into an armbar, Lyra flips a reversal of her own as the crowd chants for Sol. Sol handstands across the ring and then flips over Lyra for an X-Factor. Lyra rolls out and Lyra tries for Nightwing, Sol reversing out and springboarding right into another attempt. Lyra flips Sol to the outside to send us to Penta Facetiming with the Cricket mascot.

Back to it! The women continue to match each other counter for counter, finally clotheslining each other down to reset things a bit. The women trade blows before Sol gets the advantage with chops. Sol hits a German suplex on Lyra and heads up to the second rope, nailing a beautiful missile dropkick. Sol smacks Lyra with a running knee and gets a two count as the fans chant about the awesomeness of the match. Lyra boots Sol and drops a leg over the back of her neck before stacking her up for a two count. Lyra misses a spin kick and gets caught up in the ropes, Sol takes the shot for the Sol Snatcher and gets the pin.

Sol Ruca pins Lyra Valkyria to retain the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship. Very good match. Good showing for Sol but it’s also good getting to see what Lyra can do in a singles spotlight again. Watch this one too.

The Usos and Jacob are backstage. Jimmy tells Jacob they make the plays and Jimmy needs to run them. Jacob yells to them that the only one he acknowledges is their OTC Roman Reigns and they need to worry about L.A. Knight.

Speak of the devil, L.A. Knight walks by Tozawa, Otis and Maxxine Dupri. We’ll hear from him next after about three minutes of commercials and another minute or two of WWE promotional stuff.

Back in the arena, L.A. Knight gets a monstrous reaction just like the rest of the wrestlers tonight. Someone tries to toss Knight a mic, the toss is too low and the fans boo so Knight tosses it back and we get it right the second time. Knight tells the fans that Roman has conned them and whose empire is crumbling, calling this the Bloodline vortex. We love a good vortex in wrestling. Knight expects someone from the Bloodline to come interrupt his KOTR match on Friday. “I don’t fall in line to a Tribal Chief. In this neighborhood, I am the chief.” He says that if he does win, he’ll look Roman right in the eye for the championship. He also knows Adam Pearce would but the stamp right on it because “there is a stark, marked difference” in the way Pearce talks to him and Roman. “I may be unchosen, but every single one of you, you chose me. I chose myself.” He wishes his opponents Friday luck but especially wishes Jey luck in winning without bringing his family to the ring.

This brings us Main Event Jey Uso, the fans yeeting for him. If you’ve been listening to people that tell you Jey isn’t still over, you are listening to the wrong people. In fact, the fans call for an encore, so Jey slams the mic to the mat, calls for the music to run back and yeets again. L.A. Knight: “You don’t possibly expect me to stand here and watch this?” Jey says he’ll always answer his family’s call and tells Knight that this is his warning shot before yeeting to the back. Knight calls for the music to be cut, saying that he knows the yeeting is fun but man to man, you should be protective of your family. “Good luck and from the bottom of my heart – top to bottom – SCREW your family.” Jey rips off his shirt and heads to the ring, Big Jim comes out to pull him away. This was a well done segment. Knight has been hitting it hard and well on the mic the last few weeks.

Chad Gable comes across Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee, asking to talk to them. Mysterio tells him to stop beating himself up. After watching the Mask vs Mask match, he accepts the apology. He’s not one to judge, but Chad might want to look back a little further because he has done some things he might regret way before he put the mask on. Are we getting some American Alpha things? I’d like that.

WWE Intercontinental Championship: WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta vs WWE Hall of Famer & AAA General Manager Rey Mysterio

The last time these two had a singles match, it was May 2018 and Rey defeated Penta El Zero M on the NEW Wrestling Under the Stars 7 tour in Niles, Ohio of all places. Before that, you have to head back to Lucha Underground in 2016. This is only the third time they’ve had a singles match and Rey has won both of them. The fans sing along with Rey’s theme. Rey tries for an early 619, Penta launches him outside, slides under him and Rey springboard moonsaults right on top of him to send us to break.

We come back to the lucha legends trading chops, Penta sweeping the leg. Penta boots Rey to the mat and drops the corner boots, Rey rolling outside and Penta flying onto him on the entrance ramp. Back in, Penta nails a Back Stabber for a two. Penta unloads a few chops and Rey spins him into a tornado DDT for a two count. Rey gets a sunset flip onto the barricade and we take a break for a Minions commercial. I support the Minion takeover of the last decade or two.

We come back to a sea of reversals, Rey getting out of a Penta Driver before Penta is able to properly hit it moments later. Rey kicks out again as we’re rolling through a fantastic match here, not that there was ever any doubt. Rey springs onto Penta’s shoulders and, hits a poisonrana. Rey springs back up and lands the 619 and drops the dime, getting a very close pinfall attempt. Rey runs into a big super kick and tries for another Penta Driver, Rey rolls it into another 619. Rey heads up top and frog splashes into Penta’s knees. Penta hits the Mexican Destroyer and gets the three.

Penta pins Rey Mysterio to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship. An easy classic at least on Raw levels. I’d love to see these two do this again on a larger stage. Seek this one out ASAP.

As the luchadors celebrate togerther, Rusev and Ethan Page are here for the attack. Penta eats a kick and Rusev hooks the Accolade on Rey. Dragon Lee’s music hits and he can only help temporarily before Page slings him into the timekeeper’s area. Rusev grabs Rey and yanks the mask off, Penta diving on Rey to cover him like he’s Eddie Kingston in an exploding ring match. Here’s Chad Gable to cheers to suplex Ethan and Rusev. The fans are very into Chad. If you’re looking for a way to get him over post-Americanos, being with Rey and Penta is a safe way to do it. Of course, he could also eventually turn on one of them. Chad grabs the mask and hands it to Penta so that they can re-mask Rey.

Raquel Rodriguez tells us in a vignette that she will blast through Iyo Sky next week to continue her way to Queen of the Ring. I vote for Raquel to win the whole thing and battle Liv at SummerSlam. After an ad break, we get a Iyo Sky vignette response.

We visit the Judgment Day clubhouse with Roxanne Perez and Liv. Rox says she was thinking about herself last week but wants Liv or Raquel to win QOTR, perhaps even facing each other. Dom and JD come in and Liv has some ideas for next week.

King of the Ring First Round Match: Seth Rollins vs Je’Von Evans vs Ricky Saints vs Talla Tonga

Fatal four-way as always, so no DQ and no count out. This is the first Raw match for Talla. Ricky once appeared in a 2018 loss to the Revival. Ricky boots Seth out and Je’Von flips out of Talla’s way before Talla busts out of a springboard stunner attempt. Seth comes in for his face-to-face with Talla, the fans solidly behind Seth at least with the theme song singing. Je’Von comes back in to join up with Seth in trying to take down Talla before Saints pulls Seth to the mat. Saints tries to keep a partnership with Talla, Talla boots him in the face and tosses him to ringside. Talla follows by tossing Je’Von to the outside and our show to another ad break. Even Extra gum is getting into the Raw ad game.

After those ads, Tama is still throwing the other guys around ringside until Saints shoves him into a ring post and Seth dives onto him. Talla grabs Ricky and Seth by the throat and Je’Von FLIES out of nowhere onto him into the timekeeper’s area. With Je’Von and Talla down, we’re back to Seth and Saints in-ring. That lasts briefly because Je’Von bounces back into things, springboarding into a Rollins Pedigree attempt. Evans tries to rana Seth, Seth tries for a buckle bomb that Je’Von rolls through. Ricky stops Je’Von’s flight path and hits the Revolution DDT for his own near fall. Je’Von hits a dive, Seth hits a Pedigree, Talla reappears and tries for the Talla T-Bomb but Seth slips out. Je’Von bounces outside onto all three men and we’ve just got bodies flying everywhere. It’s entertaining, I’ll give it that.

After a replay, three of the men have already recovered and are back in the ring. Rollins and Saints follow Je’Von up top to try to suplex him, Talla comes from behind for the corner power bomb spot but Je’Von lands on his feet, nailing Talla with a kick before running into a clothesline and near fall. Talla clears the American announce table and sets up a chokeslam on Rollins, Je’Von dives onto him and is caught into the chokeslam onto the French announce table before Seth stomps Talla’s head off the table. Seth jumps to the barricade and stomps Talla to the mat before rolling in to try one on Saints, Saints rolls out of the way and tries for his DDT, Seth ducks into the stomp. Rollins looks to be on the way to the count before Austin Theory appears to pull the referee out. I genuinely thought Theory was a fan. He’s very plain looking in street clothes. Montez comes out to battle him off, so Bron Breakker appears to spear Seth because that’s just never, ever going to end. Ricky crawls over for a pin, Je’Von springs in with an OG Cutter and pins him, Seth unable to get the energy to break it up.

Je’Von Evans pins Ricky Saints to advance in the King of the Ring tournament. Again, a really good match. Most of us expected Seth to advance, but he’s stuck in the Vision vortex. It’s worth catching at least the highlights of this one on YouTube as well. Evans moves on to face the winner of Friday’s four-way as the credits roll on Je’Von celebrating in the fans and Seth fuming.

Another really good episode. The Paris crowd elevated everything, but each and every match was very good at the least. Penta vs Rey was the must-see match. I don’t think there was a low point to this episode, probably something helped by minimal Vision stuff. Watch this one. Next week, a brief return to North America for a week before we head to the UK and then Saudi Arabia!

The international tour continues, so Raw is on bright and early in the afternoon in the U.S. After the Clash in Italy, we have some acknowledgement ahead as well as the start of two more tournaments.

The last week in WWE: Raw / NXT / Evolve / SmackDown / Noche de los Grandes Night One / Clash in Italy

Then, Now, Forever, Together.

This is Turin, Italy and for the first time, it is hosting Raw at the Inalpi Arena. We’re live on Netflix and presented by DoorDash. Here’s a look at Clash in Paris!

Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns arrive and head right on out to the ring because Roman would like some acknowledgement. Perhaps even in a ceremonial form. As we’re in the same place as last night, we have a similar stage setup but without the pillars and with the addition of the King and Queen of the Ring crowns in display cases. We take a good five minutes to get through the intro, so here’s where I point you to our ring announcer tonight, the great Alicia Taylor.

Solid “OTC” chants for Roman followed by our first two fan songs of the night. At the twelve-minute mark of the show, Roman finally speaks. “Acknowledge me.” Jey grabs a mic and says Jacob is late already on his first day of the job. The fans give Jey some yeets and here comes Jacob Fatu. The fans sing for him as well. It’s going to be one of those nights, but it’s always good to have a crowd that is into the show. Roman says we aren’t dragging this out and Jey tells Jacob that he’s moving too slow. Jacob stares down Main Event Jey and snatches his mic. Roman yells at Jacob, “I’m over here.” Jacob tells Roman that he knew what he was getting himself into with Tribal Combat and he has been taking L’s his whole life. He knows his children are going to see him take a loss but be a man of his word. “Last night, I lost to my Tribal Chief, but I didn’t lose to YOUR punk ass, Jey. Roman, I acknowledge you.”

Jacob bows on one knee, acknowledging the OTC and extending his hand. Roman grabs it, pulls Jacob up and tells him that he loves him. Big Jim tells Jacob that he’s with them and this is a warning shot to the entire locker room as Jacob raises the finger of acknowledgement with the OTC and the Usos. Clearly, we have some problems ahead with Jacob and Jey and have many more chapters of Bloodline Saga ahead of us.

Michael Cole and Corey Graves greet us from ringside. Cole shouts out Graves and tells us that the Mask vs Mask match from Noche de los Grandes will have an encore presentation after Raw tonight on Netflix. I’m not going to review it because I don’t think I can possibly do a better job of perfectly describing the emotion of it all than Niz did in his review. We also have our Italian broadcast team tonight, Michele Posa and Luca Franchini.

Arrivals! Seth Rollins! The Vision! Sol Ruca! 

Here’s a video package on the King and Queen of the King tournaments and many who have won, from Nia Jax to Cody Rhodes and Kurt Angle to King Booker. The first round begins tonight with fatal four-way matches because WWE can’t do tournaments without multi-person matches nowadays.

King of the Ring First Round Match: WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta vs Oba Femi vs Solo Sikoa (with Tama Tonga) vs Carmelo Hayes

Cole reminds us that fatal four ways include no DQ and no count outs. You’d think Tama would simply come into the ring with Solo with those rules, but he does not. Melo gets the commercial break entrance while Oba gets the big chants and a split-screen to show fans doing the strut in the crowd. Melo, Solo and Penta all try to attack Oba during his entrance, he knocks them aside and completes the entrance complete with lighting. The bell rings and the trio try to attack again, Oba tosses them all off and delivers running uppercuts to two of them and dodging a spike from Solo. Oba and Solo fight on the ramp to give the in-ring spotlight to Penta and Hayes for a bit. Oba returns to double chokeslam Hayes and Penta and send us to a Wingstop commercial.

After six additional commercials, Penta is chopping away at Hayes. Solo runs in to clothesline them both as we see Femi run in and clothesline him. Hayes hits the First 48 on Oba, Penta gets a kick, and they drive Oba into the ring post. Solo and Tama drive Femi into the ring post two more times and Tama boots him over the barricade. Penta leaps onto Solo on the outside, Hayes leaps mostly over Penta. Hayes ducks a Samoan Spike, Penta grabs Hayes for a Penta Driver that Solo breaks up. Oba rises from behind the barricade and smacks Tama, chops the hell out of Hayes and spinebusters Penta before running back outside and tossing Tonga over the announce table. Femi hits the Fall from Grace on Solo and that’s your pin.

Oba Femi pins Solo Sikoa to advance in the King of the Ring tournament. A wild, fun match, and any worries that Oba’s aura would disappear after losing to Brock disappeared during his entrance. We’re really lucky to be seeing this crazy Oba run as it happens. Oba will face the winner of Dominik vs Bron vs Trick vs Damian. I’m imagining Dom Dom running from Oba.

Oba grabs a mic after the match. “Brock Lesnar, don’t you ever forget it is 1-1.I’ll see you down the line.”

We take a look at the saga of Rollins-Breakker. They’ll battle in the main event tonight.

Sol Ruca heads through the backstage area as we see Austin Theory and Maxxine Dupri having their weekly discussion.

The great unbiased journalist Cathy Kelley is in ring to introduce our new WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Sol Ruca. Sol gets a good reaction and they’ve added some sing-along “whoaing” to her theme which helps. Sol gets a “you deserve it” chant. Sol believed she could be a champion and so did the fans, so she thanks them. The hard cam is actually shaking from the fans stomping and cheering, which is one of the cooler things to see happen occasionally. Sol says she proved Becky Lynch wrong at Clash in Italy and it isn’t just her saying it. Her work is just getting started because the Intercontinental Championship deserves a fighting champion. Man, this crowd rocks.

Cole takes us to a clip from after last night’s show as Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns cross paths and exchange looks. We go live to Roman and the Usos backstage, Roman telling Jey to stay on Jacob’s ass and show him tough love. Roman looks at his title and tells Jey that he needs him to win King of the Ring and take the other World Championship. “I need you to level up.” Roman tells Big Jim to stay with him because Jey needs to do this on his own.

WWE Hall of Famer & AAA General Manager Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee vs Ethan Page and Rusev

Rey takes a position of power and wrestles more than ever. Rusev and Lee kick it off. After a few minutes, the hard cam shakes again as the crowd roars for the possibility of a Rey tag, something spoiled by Ethan pulling Rey off the apron.

After a break, Ethan is still working Dragon away from the possibility of tagging Rey. After several minutes, Rey finally gets that molten hot tag and leaps onto Page with a senton and a flying body press. Rey ranas Rusev to the outside and sets Ethan up for 619. Rusev grabs Rey’s leg so Dragon kicks him. Rey leaps onto Ego’s shoulders and Ethan swings him into a Boston Crab, Lee breaking it with a kick. Lee leaps onto Rusev on the outside and Rey sets up another 619, hitting this one and a Drop of the Dime for the three.

Rey Mysterio pins Ethan Page, Mysterio & Lee defeat Page & Rusev. A great match elevated by a hot, hot crowd. Well worth your time.

Raw General Manager Adam Pearce chats with Penta backstage. He tells Penta that he’s working on the Penta-Rey match. Penta leaves and L.A. Knight appears, asking why Pearce goes to Roman’s locker room but won’t ever come to Knight’s. He asks Pearce if he is feeling Ucey and threatens to buy him an Honorary Uce shirt. Pearce bows up at Knight and Knight promises to pull him out of retirement just to put him back in if he doesn’t cool his jets. Pearce points at Knight, Knight grabs his hand, raises it as if Pearce is doing the Roman finger. A good segment! I liked this fire.

We take a look at highlights from the AAA Mask vs Mask match, and I can’t tell you enough to go watch that match if you haven’t already.

Queen of the Ring First Round Match: Iyo Sky vs Giulia vs Roxanne Perez vs Lash Legend

This is Giulia’s first Raw match since May 2025 when she teamed with Perez in a losing effort against Sky & Rhea Ripley. As a fatal four-way, this is no DQ and no count out. They all go after Lash at first, trying for the formula of the opening contest tonight. Giulia hooks a guillotine onto Lash who powers out of it. Lash overpowers Iyo and Rox in the air, Giulia dropkicks them all and yanks Iyo down with a suplex to send us to a break.

Back from the break, Rox has found the advantage and is working over Iyo. That doesn’t last for long as Giulia comes in and Iyo dropkicks them both down. Iyo nails both women with the Bullet Train before Legend ragdolls her into a headlock. With all the women in the corner, Lash power bombs both Giulia and Rox and hits the Lash Extension on Rox. She hooks it on Giulia as well and covers, only for Iyo to leap off with a stomp to her spine. Iyo nails the Over the Moonsault on Giulia for the pin and to move on.

Iyo Sky pins Giulia to advance in the Queen of the Ring. Another good match, not quite as wild as the opener but still very good. Giulia looked great in her Raw spotlight, and I’d love to see her around more often, but it is also hard to bet against Iyo. Iyo faces the winner of Bayley vs Rodriguez vs Jayne vs James.

Pearce talks with Maxxine, Otis and Akira Tozawa. Maxxine is upset she wasn’t in the QOTR bracket despite only winning one match since the Rumble, a Main Event victory over Nikkita Lyons. Otis finally mentions she’s been hanging around Theory and she tells them to trust her.

Hey, here’s a segment about Danhausen and the New York Knicks. What a sentence I am delighted to type and also never expected to type.

Cathy has found Bayley and Lyra Valkyria. Cathy wonders what happens if they cross paths in the QOTR tournament. Bayley thinks they’ll answer that if it happens. Lyra sees Sol Ruca passing by and runs off to congratulate her and remembers that she can challenge again now that Becky doesn’t have it.

Next week on Raw, the tournaments continue until morale improves. On the women’s side we have Becky vs Liv vs Chelsea vs Alexa while on the men’s side it is Je’Von vs Seth vs Ricky vs Talla.

Roxanne Perez is ranting in the Judgment Day clubhouse to WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan, AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio, Raquel Rodriguez and JD McDonough. Liv reminds Rox that she is still family and they take opportunity, with herself and Dom becoming new King and Queen of the Ring. JD and Raquel take offense to this as they are in the tournaments as well.

Seth Rollins vs WWE World Tag Team Champion Bron Breakker (with WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman)

You may recall that Bron has become a World Tag Team Champion by The Vision following Freebirds/New Day rules with Logan Paul’s injury. They brawl to the outside with Rollins leaping onto Bron but being driven over the barricade and four fans who definitely are not also wrestlers.

After another round of commercials, Bron flies into Seth with an elbow on the outside. Bron pounds Seth into the Italian announce table and strips the covering off, clearing the table for chaos. He does the same to the American table just to not show favoritism. Rollins scoops Bron up, Bron slides out and sends Rollins back in the ring. Seth springboards onto Bron and, with the hard cam again shaking, is knocked off the ropes. Bron heads up after him and nails the Frankensteiner for a near fall. As the fans chant about the match being awesome, the battle returns to the outside with Bron leaping from the apron and right into a clothesline for another commercial break.

Seth powerbombs Bron into a two count. Back outside again, Seth drags the ring steps near the announce table and marches up onto them with Bron on his shoulders. Bron escapes again to drive Rollins into the post and back into the ring, this time Seth leaping up for a superplex and rolling through into a Falcon Arrow for a two count. Seth tries for a stomp, Bron hits a spear from a stationary position. Seth rolls out and Bron follows, the fans singing as Bron tosses Seth onto the American announce table. Bron climbs the Italian table and leaps with a spear, falling right into a Pedigree through the table by Rollins. Rollins rolls Bron in and hits another Pedigree, covering for a 2.9 count by referee Chad Patton.

Seth sets up another stomp but here’s Austin Theory, who Rollins clotheslines out. Bron misses a spear, Rollins stomps as Paul Heyman distracts Patton. Theory nails Seth with the World Tag Team Title and Montez Ford comes out in dress pants to fly into Theory and take a nasty spear from Bron. Bron runs into the ring to spear Rollins and again can’t get a three count. The camera shakes again from the fans and they are hot for this just like everything else they’ve seen tonight. Rollins catches Bron with a kick and a stomp but Heyman puts Bron’s foot on the ropes, our favorite thing to do this weekend in WWE booking.

Seth stares a hole through Heyman and heads outside after him. We see a speeding Bron suddenly and Seth dodges, Bron spearing Heyman through the barricade and Cole calling for a coroner. Bron spears Seth but we notice Rollins has the tag championship belt around his waist as he does, taking a page from the Bret Hart handbook. With Bron being out of it, Seth nails another stomp and this time gets the pin.

Seth Rollins pins Bron Breakker. “What a win, what a match, what a show,” Cole calls very correctly. Hell of a TV match, one of the best of the year. Go watch this one.

Post-match, Rollins points towards Ford in appreciation and we roll credits on the fans singing for Seth and a downed Paul Heyman.

We end our Raw broadcast to head into the El Grande Americano vs Original El Grande Americano Mask vs Mask match. They hyped the hell out of the match and this match airing all show and for good reason, it is arguably the best match of the year and if not the last few years. Watch it here and read Niz’s great review of it here.

Hell, go watch this entire episode of Raw. The Italian crowd was HOT and added so much to it, but there wasn’t a bad match on the show. The main event was stellar, the KOTR opener was very good, the women’s match was good as was the tag team match. And after you get done watching the episode, stick around for the Americanos match that is attached to the broadcast.

Next week, we’re in Paris for another early international Raw. I’ll see you then!